Fry secures Gold Circle backing for Sprout's Boy

In between voicing The Guidein The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, British actor and directorStephen Fry is kickstarting his UK film and TV production company, SproutProductions

Fry and his partner inSprout, Gina Carter, have secured backing from Gold Circle, the US indie behindsupernatural suspense hit White Noise, for Sprout's first featureproduction.

Titled The Winged Boy,the fairytale-like story is written by Crispian Mills, grandson of the Britishactor Sir John Mills, who appeared in Fry's directing debut Bright YoungThings, and Michael Geary.

Set in a secluded Irishvillage, the story tells of a six year-old boy whose yearning for freedommaterialises in the form of wings that start growing from his back.

"We are very lucky," Frytold Screen International. "For three months all the emails in Sprout'sinbox have been about points in the contract, and suddenly they are all aboutswan's eggs, and where we can find the right ones."

Sprout is appointing adirector for a summer shoot on the film, which is set up as a co-productionwith Gold Circle. Carter will produce with Gold Circle's Paul Brooks, while Frywill executive produce.

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